Re: Vertica targeting PostgreSQL users

On Mon, Nov 20, 2017 at 07:10:00PM -0800, Peter Geoghegan wrote:
> On Mon, Nov 20, 2017 at 6:33 PM, Bruce Momjian <[email protected]> wrote:
> >> That's not completely fair. Some of the items are actually implemented
> >> without too much fanfare, but just never get removed from the Todo
> >> list.
> >
> > I go through the TODO list after every major release and remove the
> > completed items I find.
> 
> I was referencing the "sorting" section, which has some obsolete
> items, like "Consider being smarter about memory and external files
> used during sorts". To be fair, whether or not the other sorting items
> are obsolete is more debatable, and it's evident that you've made an
> effort to maintain it. It's just very hard for anyone to maintain a
> todo list like this.
> 
> The idea that I was trying to express was my remark was that the todo
> list inevitably becomes a thing with projects that are either likely
> controversial, or inherently very difficult. Because if they weren't,
> then they would have already been implemented (unless somebody forgot
> to remove them!).
> 
> There is a lot of stuff like "Vacuum Gin indexes in physically order
> rather than logical order". In theory, that should be totally
> uncontroversial. In practice, it's very controversial, because the
> reason that it doesn't already work that way is subtle, has a lot to
> do with complicated concurrency issues. And, I suspect that the
> existing GIN VACUUM code is buggy.
> 
> A list like the todo list sounds great, but in practice most of these
> things are so high context that in practice the best thing to do is
> seek guidance from experienced contributors. On the one hand, I think
> that it's good for new contributors to choose their own projects, so
> that they have a sense of ownership. On the other hand, there are
> significant risks if they really do that. It takes careful
> consideration on the part of the more experienced contributor giving
> advice. I've only managed to give good project advice 3 or 4 times,
> myself.

Agreed.  Feel free to improve the TODO list.

-- 
  Bruce Momjian  <[email protected]>        http://momjian.us
  EnterpriseDB                             http://enterprisedb.com

+ As you are, so once was I.  As I am, so you will be. +
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